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The Mexico border wall was one of the most controversial elements of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, but that hasn't stopped two German companies from registering an interest in building it.

Speaking at campaign rallies last year Donald Trump, regularly told delighted supporters that he was going to build a “beautiful” wall along the US border to Mexico - and that he was going to make Mexico pay for it.

Given that another pillar of Trump's campaign was bringing jobs back to the US, one would assume that he would prefer American companies to erect the 1,600 kilometre barrier.

As the SZ reports, building a huge concrete wall that could cut families in two has uncomfortable historical resonance in Germany, so bidding for such a project isn't likely to be great PR in the Bundesrepublik.

Both of the companies which have registered an interest come from southern Bavaria.

Bauer Group, a family construction firm from Schrobenhausen, a town an hour outside Munich, told the SZ that they had registered an interest, but hadn't yet gone as far as bidding.

“What we are talking about is a list of interested parties, it is not a list of companies which have made applications,” a spokeswoman for the company said.

The other German company to have registered an interest is Munich-based architecture firm Leupold Brown Goldbach.

The Munich firm assured the SZ, though, that they weren't in it for the money.

They are in the middle of building up their business in the US, and "want to see what's going on there,” a spokesperson said.

A Bloomberg report from the beginning of March stated that potential bidders had to submit applications by March 10th and that contracts would be awarded by the middle of April.